


I'll Always Come Back to You

by edensreadingcorner



Category: Banana Fish (Anime & Manga)
Genre: Ash lives, Fix-It, Fluff, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-10
Updated: 2020-09-10
Packaged: 2021-03-06 21:34:06
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,473
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26385703
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/edensreadingcorner/pseuds/edensreadingcorner
Summary: The day before Eiji left for Japan, Ash told Blanca that he would never see Eiji again.Ash survived the stab wound from Lao and now, though he misses Eiji terribly, he is determined not to see him again. He doesn't want to drag Eiji back into the cruel world of killing. Eiji, however, almost never obeys Ash's wishes when it comes to things like this.
Relationships: Ash Lynx/Okumura Eiji
Comments: 8
Kudos: 160





	I'll Always Come Back to You

It had been a week since Eiji had left New York to fly back to Japan. A week since Lao had stabbed Ash and Ash had woken up in the hospital. Ash had had wounds that were so much worse and it hadn't taken him very long to recover. After months of fighting the Corsican syndicate, now that it was pretty much gone from New York, Ash had nothing to do. Ash still had his gang of course, but for now, he had his right hand, Alex, taking care of the gang. 

After everything was over, Ash had gone back to living in the big apartment he had bought with the money he had stolen from Dino though he visited the hideout where his gang was currently staying at a couple of times. One time, he found Sing hanging around the hideout. Sing had asked when Ash planned to reunite with Eiji to which Ash replied, "never." Sing, who was still angry at Ash for not seeing Eiji at the airport just shouted at him before storming off. 

Though Ash was certain to make sure that all the others knew that he did not plan to see Eiji again, whether that meant going to Japan or Eiji coming back to New York, he couldn't help but feel a small tug at his heartstrings every time he thought of Eiji. His life felt decidedly empty without Eiji but he couldn't bear to let Eiji get hurt again because of him. Blanca was right, he could never see Eiji again. Naturally, Ash would worry occasionally about how Eiji was doing in Japan, but he knew that as long as Eiji stayed away, he would be much safer than he had been here in New York.

Still, though, Ash would find himself waking up in the middle of the night from nightmares. Each time, he would subconsciously turn towards Eiji's bed, but Eiji was never there. On particularly bad nights when Ash forgot that everything was over, he would begin to panic over Eiji's whereabouts before remembering Eiji was not meant to be there. Eiji was in Japan. 

The apartment itself felt too big now that Ash was alone. There was always the feeling that something was missing. In an effort to distract himself, Ash took to spending as much time as he could in the library. That's where he was, a week from when Eiji had left. Sitting in the seat Eiji used to sit in. The seat Ash had been prepared to let himself bleed out in. 

It was around dinner time and Ash knew he should start heading back to the apartment, though he dreaded going back there knowing he would be alone. It was the same every day though, so he was used to making himself get up and walk to the apartment. This time though, as he neared the apartment, he saw Sing walking in his direction as though Sing had just come from the apartment. Ash's eyes narrowed and as soon as Sing looked up and noticed Ash, he quickly began weaving through the crowd as if to hide from Ash. Ash felt suspicious as he could tell something was up, but he decided that it was not worth the pursuit.

The elevator felt slower than usual as Ash rode it up to the floor of the apartment.

The first thing he noticed when he got to the front door was that the door was unlocked. Ash always made extra sure to lock the door before he left so this could only mean one thing: Someone was inside. Could this be why he had seen Sing? Perhaps Yut-Lung had decided to go after him again after all.

Ash pulled his gun out of his waistband and opened the door, making as little sound as possible. He held his gun in front of him and carefully walked inside. From inside he could hear someone in the kitchen and... were they cooking? He also faintly heard the sound of humming and questioned who would be stupid enough to break into Ash Lynx's apartment like this. 

When Ash stepped into the kitchen, he realized that his gun was pointed at the last person he expected to be there. "Eiji," he said, not much louder than a whisper. The man in question jumped in surprise at hearing his name before turning around with one of the biggest smiles Ash had ever seen on him, exclaiming "Ash!"

Ash felt frozen. Eiji shouldn't be here. Eiji should be back in Japan, safe from gangs and violence. Here he stood though, smiling happily at Ash as if he had never left and Ash could not deny that it felt right to have Eiji back in the apartment. 

He had hardly any time to put the gun down before Eiji had come up and thrown his arms around him.

"Eiji," Ash said again, hardly able to believe that Eiji was back in New York, back in the apartment, and back in his arms. Ash couldn't stop the torrent of questions he had for Eiji though. "How are you here? Why are you here? Shouldn't you be resting so your wound can heal? You were in a wheelchair when you left New York."

Eiji looked at him softly. "I'm here to see you of course. It feels like it's been so long." Eiji's lips twisted in a bittersweet smile before he grinned at Ash and began recounting how he got to New York. "Sing and Alex helped arrange for me to come and see you! I wanted to come back to New York and see you again almost immediately when I got to Japan. We said that we would go together, but you weren't there. I won't force you to go to Japan if you don't want to but I really just needed to see you again. My wound is pretty much healed. I missed you too much to wait for it to be fully healed."

"I missed you too," Ash said softly before taking notice of the strands of hair falling in Eiji's eyes. He hesitantly lifted up his hand to brush the strands out of Eiji's eyes and watched with a sort of wonder as Eiji leaned into his touch. Ash still couldn't understand how Eiji felt so safe around him when he was a brutal killer. He let his arms wind themselves around Eiji once more and they held onto each other for a while. That is, until Ash saw that Eiji had made him his favorite, avocado and shrimp salad. He didn't have to say anything though as his stomach grumbled, betraying his hunger. With Eiji gone, Ash had almost completely lost his appetite. With Eiji here, Ash knew he would have no trouble eating whatever Eiji cooked for him. Except natto. Never natto.

Hearing Ash's stomach growl, Eiji giggled a little before pulling away from Ash to grab the bowls and put them on the table. Ash had half a mind to pull Eiji back into his arms but he didn't. They sat down to eat and caught each other up on everything the other had missed over the last couple weeks. They kept talking well into the night, moving over to the couch in front of the TV after finishing dinner and clearing the dishes. 

A small part of Ash kept trying to remind himself that Eiji shouldn't be here, but with his head in Eiji's lap and Eiji's fingers running through his hair, Ash felt like he had come home. The void and emptiness Ash had felt since the gangs had beaten the mafia were now filled again with just Eiji's presence. He remembered what Eiji had told him about how he had the power to change his own fate. Perhaps with Eiji by his side, he really would be able to change his fate. Maybe he really could go to Japan with Eiji and live a life where he wouldn't need a gun anymore.

They fell asleep there on the couch, their arms wrapped around each other. 

The sun rose the next morning. It was the start of a new day and a new beginning for both of them. Ash's eyes slowly opened to find Eiji staring at him softly. He brought his arms up and cupped his hands around Eiji's face before slowly drawing Eiji's face to his and gently kissing him on the lips. As their lips met, Eiji's arms tightened ever so slightly around Ash. When they pulled apart, the smiles they gave each other were as bright as the sun shining through the window. 

Today was a fresh start for them and it would be up to them to decide what to do next. No one was going to get in the way of their future together.


End file.
